Illinois

Recent exultant headlines about downtown's astounding growth overlook Chicago's troubling bifurcation into two cities — "one where optimism abounds, one where hope and opportunity are hard to find," writes Marilyn Katz.

March 14, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

With the demolition of notorious high-rise housing projects such as Cabrini-Green over the last decade and a half, Chicago became a model for a new approach to public housing. A new study tracks former high-rise residents to see how they've fared.

March 11, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

With its surging job and population growth, and high retail sales, downtown Chicago is outperforming the suburbs for the first time in decades. Perhaps more than any other city in the country, it reflects the inversion of the post-war paradigm.

March 4, 2013 - Crain's Chicago Business

With dozens of riverfront revitalization projects completed across the world in the past couple of decades, lessons abound for how Chicago can best integrate its waterfront and downtown. Whet Moser considers three examples.

February 27, 2013 - Chicago Magazine

Engineering marvel, polluted sewer, magnet for development - the Chicago River has worn many hats in its day. For its next role, can it become an "example of environmental innovation and ecological stewardship"?

February 26, 2013 - OnEarth

Back in December, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his aim of attracting Seattle's bikers and tech jobs while opening a new protected bike lane downtown. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn isn't taking Emanuel's entreaties lightly.

February 21, 2013 - Seattle Bike Blog

Julie Lasky speaks with Mikyoung Kim, an award winning landscape architect who's most recent projects find her designing gardens in unlikely settings - like the 11th floor of a hospital in Chicago.

February 9, 2013 - The New York Times

In an essay for Next City, Juan-Pablo Velez, member of the Chicago-based civic tech collective Open City, explains the rationale behind their latest project, which aims to make the city's zoning "digestible by humans."

February 8, 2013 - Next City

Alby Gallun looks at Chicago's downtown apartment boom, which is supposed to add 4,700 units to the market by the end of 2014. Will lenders allow the bubble to burst?

February 8, 2013 - Chicago Real Estate Daily

The plan being proposed for a new bus-rapid-transit (BRT) line operating along busy Ashland Avenue would limit left turns and see the removal of a traffic lane. Will it survive "political vetting by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office"?

January 30, 2013 - WBEZ

In the wake of the problem-plagued privatization of Chicago's parking meters in 2008, two WSJ reporters assess conversions (or attempts) in Indianapolis (2010), Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and New York, as well as what went wrong in Chicago.

January 28, 2013 - The Wall Street Jounal

Although the nation's housing market appears to be improving, the foreclosure crisis is far from over. Following in the footsteps of other localities, Cook County, Illinois, is creating a countywide land bank to help address its foreclosures.

January 25, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

From education to housing to health, Chicago's Gary Comer, billionaire founder of Lands' End, invested millions into the struggling South Side neighborhood of Pocket Town in a mission to transform it into a beacon of hope for the community.

January 23, 2013 - Chicago Magazine

In Chicago, like in many cities, local food production comes in many forms, from small backyard crops to community gardens. Researchers are now using Google Earth to paint a more accurate picture of food production at different scales.

January 13, 2013 - NPR

Social scientists have a theory that a neighborhood's character shapes its economic future more than income levels and foreclosure rates. A tragedy to the community of Chatham on Chicago's South Side has tested this "neighborhood effect."

January 12, 2013 - The New York Times

Whet Moser looks at the revival of the intercity bus industry, despite its past inadequacies and stigmas. He discusses a new report that details the elements contributing to today's bus boom.

January 10, 2013 - Chicago Magazine

Adapting to extreme weather events resulting from climate change has largely taken the form of infrastructure engineering, e.g building flood doors for subways or reinforcing sand dunes, but what of 'social adaptation' for residents themselves?

January 5, 2013 - The New Yorker

The difficulties food truck operators have encountered in trying to set up shop in Chicago provides a parable for how well meaning, but slow moving and cumbersome, public agencies can get in the way of their city's best interests.

January 5, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood has seen a dramatic rise in incomes and property values over the past decade. Emily Badger examines the historically black neighborhood's non-white gentrification, and how it's viewed differently than other areas.

January 3, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

While Washington bickers over partisan issues, mayors in the rest of the country are showing strong leadership and innovation. Newsweek has compiled a list of the top cities pushing education reform, public safety, quality of life, and job creation.

January 1, 2013 - The Daily Beast